Here is a glance at some of Pakistan's most prominent opposition leaders:

• Benazir Bhutto: A two-time former prime minister who leads Pakistan's biggest opposition party. Has broken off Western-backed talks with Musharraf and began calling on Tuesday for him to quit.

• Nawaz Sharif: The prime minister ousted in Musharraf's 1999 coup and Pakistan's most popular leader, according to a recent poll. Musharraf has ruled out letting him return from exile in Saudi Arabia ahead of January elections.

• Qazi Hussain Ahmed: Leader of Pakistan's main Islamist party and critic of Musharraf's role in the U.S.-led war on terrorism. The party's organization and ideological reach give it influence beyond its narrow electorate. Under house arrest.

• Fazlur Rehman: Head of a pro-Taliban party with strong support among the ethnic Pashtuns living along the Afghan border. Counts himself among the opposition but has sided with the government at key moments.

• Imran Khan: Former cricket player who used his sporting stardom to elbow his way into Pakistan's otherwise stagnant political elite. An eloquent and outspoken critic of Musharraf who is currently on the run from police.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan  Abdul Rahman is appalled and angry at what President Pervez Musharraf has done to Pakistan: He has suspended the constitution, ousted judges who refuse to pledge loyalty to him, silenced independent television stations and rounded up thousands of political opponents.

But Rahman, 40, hasn't joined the lawyers and political activists who are protesting Musharraf's measures and squaring off against the police. "We want to go out," the civil servant says. "But we are so weak, and the government is so powerful and ferocious."

Rahman is part of Pakistan's silent majority. So far, few of the pro-democracy demonstrations against Musharraf since he issued an emergency decree Nov. 3 have drawn more than a couple hundred people. Many Pakistanis say they have stayed on the sidelines because of Musharraf's intimidating security forces and their distrust of other politicians who might replace him.

There were signs Tuesday that Pakistan's divided opposition leaders might be starting to form a common front, but it may be difficult for them to summon the broad public support that would be necessary to dislodge Musharraf from power.

"People are burning up inside," says retired lieutenant general Talat Masood, an outspoken critic of Musharraf. "But why should they risk their lives? Why didn't the Iraqi people come out to protest when Saddam was ruling?"

Musharraf's police have arrested more than 7,500 activists from the opposition party of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and thousands more from the party of another ex-prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, the parties say.

"In the first three days, they arrested 5,000 of our supporters," Ahsan Iqbal, spokesman for Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N, says by phone. "Some of us are in hide-outs. The moment we go out, they pick us up. That has momentarily caused a setback."

The state of emergency gives Musharraf broad powers to prevent demonstrations. On Tuesday, police barricaded Bhutto inside a supporter's house in the central city Lahore and prevented her from leading a protest march to the capital Islamabad, saying that they were protecting her from the threat of a suicide attack.

"They're claiming it's for her own security," says Sherry Rehman, a spokeswoman for Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party, who was holed up inside the house with Bhutto on Tuesday. "I don't understand why their guns are pointed at us."

Meanwhile, many Pakistanis are loath to risk their lives on behalf of politicians such as Bhutto and Sharif, who were prime ministers during the 1990s. Both of Bhutto's governments collapsed amid allegations of corruption, which Bhutto has denied.

"We have no confidence in the political forces," says fashion designer Sumera Khan, 28. "No one is ready to come out for these crooks."

Only a few weeks ago, Bhutto was negotiating a power-sharing arrangement with Musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 coup. The deal cast doubts on Bhutto's pro-democracy credentials in the minds of some Pakistanis.

"They are still playing games at this crucial moment," says domestic servant Sibtain Kazmi, 36.

The political opposition is also splintered into warring factions: Bhutto's PPP, Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N, a fractious coalition of Islamic parties called Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal and various regional parties.

For now, most of the resistance to Musharraf's emergency decree has come from a handful of lawyers and activists inside Pakistan and from Pakistanis living abroad.

The United States and some European countries have also urged Musharraf to restore the constitution and make sure the upcoming elections are free and fair.

The opposition showed signs of gaining strength after Bhutto called for Musharraf to resign Tuesday and promised to team with her rivals to restore democracy.

"We can certainly work with her," says Iqbal, the Sharif spokesman.

And Sharif himself told the Associated Press that the opposition was "beginning to get together."

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A protester throws stones at police during an anti-government protest in Karachi on Wednesday. Musharraf's police have arrested more than 7,500 activists from the opposition party of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and thousands more from the party of another ex-prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, the parties say.

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